Closet-hopper.



H. P. GONSOULAND.

CLOSET HOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED nzc.30. 1914.

Patented May 11, 1915.

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HENRY P. GONSOULAND, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

CLOSET-HOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed December 30, 1914. Serial No. 879,772.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY P. GoNs0U- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closet- Hoppers; and I do hereby declare the foli lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to closet hoppers for use upon railway passenger coaches or the like and the primary object of the invention is the provision of a closet hopper which has a mechanism connected thereto which will eliminate the necessity of a porter or brakeman going through a train and looking all of the closet doors when the train pulls into a station.

Another object of this invention is the provision of means whereby the hopper may be placed in an operative position by the closing of the protective door over the step of an ordinary railway coach, which are positioned in the vestibule of the same, or by the manipulation of a leverwhich may be positioned within the vestibule or within the car proper as desired.

With the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, andin which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fragment of a hopper constructed in accordance with this invention and showing parts of the car in section. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in plan of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail viewshowing the hopper in an opened or operated position. 7

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates a fragment of the base of an ordinary railway passenger coach which has a closet or excrement hopper 2 carried thereby, and a trap door 3 hingedly connected to one portion thereof, which trap door is provided for closing the opening to the alighting or approaching step (not shown) of the passenger coach, which are positioned in the vestibule (not shown) of the latter.

The hopper 2 has a retaining cup 5 pivotally connected below the lower end of the same for forming a closure for the hopper proper and for retaining the excrement deposited in the hopper. The cup 5 has an ear 6 formed integrally therewith, which projects from the rear side of the cup adjacent the upper edge of the same and is rigidly secured to a shaft 7. The shaft 7 is supported by suitable brackets 8 beneath the base or floor 1 of the car, and it has a pinion 8 mounted upon one end thereof which meshes with the rack teeth 9 which are formed upon a rack bar 10. The rack bar 10 is slidably supported beneath the floor 1, and it has any suitable type of dog mechanism (not shown) carried thereby for coacting with the teeth of a quadrant 18 for holding the lever in various adjusted positions. The lever 17 has spiral springs 19 and 20 connected to the opposite sides thereof, which spiral springs are in turn connected to the supporting posts 21 and .22'of the quadrant 18; The springs 19 and 20 tend to draw the lever 17 to a vertical position as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, immediately upon release of the dog mechanism (not shown) from coaction with the teeth of the quadrant 18.

The forward end of the rack bar 10 which extends beyond the hopper 2 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 23 in which is slidably seated a pin 24. The

' pin 24 is carried by and extends transversely to one end of a link 25. The link 25 is in turn pivotally connected at 26 to an arm 27 The arm 27 is slidably supported beneath the under surface of the trap door 3 by brackets 28 and it is hingedly or pivotally connected at 29 to a bracing arm 30, which is secured to the under surface of the floor 1.

The cup 5 is provided with a rubber cup 31 which is mounted on the interior of the cup 5 as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

In the operation of the improved closet hopper heretofore described: when the trap door 3 is raised to permit passengers to alight or mount the steps (not shown) of the passenger car (not shown), the arm 27 will be positioned vertically, which will draw the pin 2 1 to the forward end of the slot 23, while the pin 14 will be drawn to the rear end of the slot 12, which will prevent the sliding movement of the rack bar 10 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 1 of the drawings, owing to the fact that the vertical positioning of the rod 27 and the trap door 3 will form a lock for restraining the sliding movement of the rack bar. When the trap door is raised and the rack bar 10 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings the cup 5 is positioned beneath the lower open end of the hopper 2 and is securely held therein by the locking of the rack bar and consequently of the pinion 8 and the shaft 7 which prevents the pivotal or hinged movement of the cup 5.

After the train has pulled out of a station (not shown) and the trap door 3 is lowered, the pin 24: will slide within the slot 23 assuming a position in the rear end of the slot, so that when the lever 17 is actuated, the rack bar 10 will be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow A and will rotate the shaft 7 through the meshing engagement with the pinion 8. The rotation of the shaft 7 will move the cup 5 to an open position as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings and permit of the emptying of the hopper 2.

The ordinary type of flushing apparatus may be emploved this forming no part of the present invention.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings the advantages of the construction and of the method of'operation of the improved closet hopper will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoing description, the principles of the operation of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practi cal conditions provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with the approaching step controlling trap door on a railway coach, and an excrement hopper carried by said coach, of a closure cup for the open lower end of said hopper, a shaft rigidly connected to said cup, means for rotating said shaft for moving said cup out of a closing position for the open end of said hopper, and means for preventing the rotation of said shaft and the movement of said cup when said trap door is in a raised position.

2. The combination with the step controlling trap door of a railway coach and an excrement hopper positioned within said coach, of a cup forming a closure for the lower open end of said hopper, a rotatable shaft rigidly connected to said cup, a pinion mounted upon one end of said shaft, a slidable rack bar meshing with said pinion for rotating said shaft and moving said cup into an open or closed position upon the rotation of said shaft by the sliding movement of said rack bar, means for manually sliding said rack bar, and means for preventing the sliding movement of said rack bar when said trap door is in a raised position.

3. The combination with a railway coach having a trap door for controlling the opening to the approach step thereof, and an excrement hopper carried by said coach, of a cup forming a closure for the lower open end of said hopper, a shaft rigidly connected to said cup, a pinion carried by said shaft, a slidable rack bar operatively meshing with said pinion for rotating said pinion and said shaft upon slidable movement of said rack bar for moving said cup into an open or closed position for the open end of said hopper, said rack bar having a slot formed in one end thereof, a pin mounted in said slot, a link connected to said pin, an arm connected to said link, said arm being connected to and positioned beneath the under surface of said door for preventing the sliding movement of said rack bar when said door is in an open position. I

4:. The combination with a railway coach having a trap door for controlling the opening to the approach step thereof, and an excrement hopper carried by said coach, of a cup forming a closure for the lower open end of said hopper, a shaft rigidly connected to said cup, a pinion carried by said shaft, a slidable rack bar operatively meshing with said pinion for rotating said pinion and said shaft upon slidable movement of said rack bar for moving said cup into an open or closed position for the open end of said hopper, said rack bar having aslot formed in one end thereof, a pin mounted in said slot, a link connected to said pin, an arm connected to said link, said arm being connected to and positioned beneath the under surface of said door for preventing the sliding movement of said rack bar when said door is in an open position, said rack bar having a longitudinally extending slot formed in In testimony whereof I affix my signature the other end thereof opposite to said first in presence of tWo Witnesses.

named slot, a lever connected to said rack HENRY P. GONSOULAND. bar through the medium of said slot, for Witnesses:

5 manually sliding said rack bar when said WVALTER MONTGOMERY,

door is in a closed position. MYRON J. SLAUGHTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

